Just So Stories
by libowie
Summary: Answers to the age old questions. Chapter 3: Why We Call it History [My story, however, is one about the World, this whole place and how it came to be remembered.]
1. Why the Male is Called Son

_**Note:** Lots of diffrent legends for all the Nations!_

**Just So Stories**

_**Why the Male is Called "Son"**_

Once, a very long time ago, there was no sun. Only the cold blackness of night, lasting forever. This was a time before the moon, a time before any bending. Life was void, everlasting, empty, filled with fickle things of no meaning.

There was man. Before the moon and the sun there was man, but these people where just shells, for souls could not exist with out bending, without spirit or belief. It is said that is why the Great Spirits sent the moon. They sent it to show they were all powerful, and they alone could create and destroy.

But the moon alone could not shine. It created the water benders, but the world was so completely and utterly off balance that the Spirits had to create something else to counter the water, but at the same time help it.

So they created the sun. It only seemed fair to make it of fire, because air had the sky, water had the ocean and moon, and earth had the soil. Combining all their power the Great Spirits formed it into a sphere, and called it "sun".

It was the biggest of the Spirit's creations, and they believed the most wonderful. Soon the Great Spirits valued the sun more than any other creation, and wanted humans to mirror its greatness.

These humans were called fire benders. For a time everything seemed at peace on the world, but when one child is favored over another, all balance is lost, and chaos replaces it.

The moon, the air, the soil were all jealous of the sun. When jealously erupted, so did hate, and killing, and pain, and death. And war. Because of the sun, the fire benders believed that theirs was the superior element.

Then rivalry came, the kind you get between siblings, children. It was childish, yet just as full, and caused the water to forget its healing, the earth to forget its growth, the air to forget its breath and be replaced with horrid things; drowning, crushing, and suffocation, because the fire had long ago forgotten it's warmth and only burned.

So the hatred was there, as old as the sun, but a war didn't result until many centuries later. Even so, it still became a sort of sick tradition (though most forgot its underline meaning) to name man, the superior being, after the after the superior elemental creation.

And to this day, when man has a child who is male, he is honorably called "son".


	2. Why the Golden Eyes

_**Why the Fire Bender's Eyes Are Golden**_

Imagine an infinite darkness, black swirling stardust forever. A dark almost palpable, the kind of blackness that would drive a normal man insane. To believe creatures could survive on such a shadowy world would be ridiculous, right?

But they did. For a very long time man and animal alike survived in the bland night, no colors, just blackblackblack. There were noises, feelings, taste and smell. Even sight wasn't totally impossible on this world, for eventually eyes learn to adjust to the dark.

There was the ocean. The ocean and the sky such a midnight shade you couldn't tell where the horizon was, just a cloak dropped over the land. There was the pale moon, not quite white, but the lightest shade of dark, a gray some could say, just barely there, the thing that pushed the tides.

Imagine all of this, and then imagine the sun. For the first time, a yellow. A new word for this fire ball, _bright_ would be invented. Bright, shining, golden.

The man couldn't sleep. He wasn't sure if it was night or day, but it didn't matter anyway. He was lying in the grass, yet he couldn't shake the feeling something big was going to happen. He was flipping around, trying to get comfortable, and turned to the east.

His limbs began to burn, a feeling he had never felt before. The burning and the itching, like energy waiting to get out. The pain became so immense he began to shout, to scream to the heavens what they wanted with him, to send him a sign.

Then it rose. A giant ball of yellow light, uncomprehendable to any mind. And for the first time, man saw. He saw the ocean, the color, the sky and the soil, and he stared at the horizon where the sun crawled up the sky.

A dream, a dream, it's impossible. The world was filled with light and color, and the water people came out of the oceans, the earth people came out of the caves, the air people lifted up into the clouds to watch.

And the man of fire was born. Energy turned to fire, and fire shot out of the man's limbs, the burning inside him stopped, but somewhere deep a flame grew until it was a bonfire, and from man came man of flame, a Fire Nation.

But he couldn't look away from the sun. It drew his attention and held it, and he dropped to his knees to bow, but he couldn't look down, couldn't look away, can't lose this feeling in him.

And the sun burned into his eyes, but he didn't go blind. The fire inside grew, forever burning, forever itching and scratching to get out and claw its way up to the sun, but this goes unnoticed.

Some say this isn't make-believe, but keep watch for a pair of golden eyes. They know the truth.

_**Note:**__ I'm off to camp in a few minutes, then I head off to another vacation. Don't expect me until sometime around two weeks from now._

_Thought I'd give you a more philosophical side of Avatar to chew on, I'm working on the third chapter._


	3. Why the Sea Can Hold

_**Why the Sea can Hold**_

The spirit of water is everywhere. It lives in the lakes, in the rivers and ponds and each raindrop that falls from the sky. It thrives everywhere, but the largest source is the ocean.

Long ago, before the sun and the moon and the Nations and Kingdoms, there were people. People of the sky, people of the earth, and people of the ocean. Peace was kept easily, because back then, there were no people of the fire, so the groups never crossed each other.

The people of the sky stayed up, the people of the earth stayed right on the ground, and the people of the ocean stayed deep, deep, down, under the seas. It was there the water people built their society, elaborate palaces and decorative buildings and such. The people of the water stayed with other people of the water, and all was good, for a time.

Then, came man. When one of the water persons crept out of the oceans on the rainy days and fell in love with a person of earth, or a earth person would travel to the tips of mountains until they were practically in the sky themselves and would fall in love with a person of the air… it was on visits like these that man was born, a cross between elements and peoples and instantly outcasts.

The men had no where to go- they couldn't fly as the people of air could, they couldn't swim as the people of the water could, and all they could do was roam the earth until one of the people of the soil found them and they were killed.

And the friction started here. Eventually, after the men were given the sun and their very own element; fire, they began to melt metal and build different machinery. There were planes to infest the skies, and cars to run their tracks into the soil, and boats and submarines to swim the oceans and climb down to dangerous depths.

For revenge of their people being slaughtered years back, the men began to slaughter the people of the elements. Their bending was soon forgotten when they found no need for it, machines and artificial things replaced sunlight and pure energy. Why spend so much time bending when machines can do it for you?

So next time you're sitting on an airplane, remember what I tell you now, and look out the window. Perhaps if you're lucky you can see the clouds, formed into the large shapes of homes and castles and villages. Somewhere in those places live the survivors of the people of the sky. They have retreated to the clouds because as men we cannot set foot on them, and it is there they are safe. Perhaps they will sense you know their secret, and maybe a little brave one will venture out for flight, or, perhaps they will remain scared and in hiding as our metal rips up their skies.

And next time you're in a cave, look deeply into the rocks, and perhaps you'll be able to catch glimpses of people moving around; don't worry, they won't hurt you. Unfortunately, you're the one hurting them. These are the people of the earth, and they too are forced into hiding by our bulldozers and metal claws tearing apart their soil. They are rather brave, don't be surprised if you catch one staring at you- let them know you're a friend and perhaps you alone can be forgiven.

But I won't be so silly as to tell you that next time you're at the beach you'll see the people of the water. They are most scared of all, and have retreated deeper and deeper into the oceans, releasing all kinds of huge animals to scare us off. They suffer as well, forced into dark ocean crevices instead of wandering as they used to. Faced with much pollution and threats only a lucky few ever see a person of the water.

Although, you can feel them in the rain, and the rivers and streams and trickling brooks. And if that isn't proof enough, then go and venture into the ocean, and lay on your back in the water. I promise you that you'll float, as the people of the ocean are constantly pushing on the waters, trying their best to keep you away.

So tell them, "Shhh, you're secret's safe with me."

Alas, I am only a storyteller, and you have no reason to believe that what I say is true. Those of you who don't believe me, I understand, as this tale is cruel and strange, and staying where things make sense is much safer.

But those of you who do believe, storyteller and dreamers alike, then welcome to adventure, and don't worry, you're secret's safe with me.


	4. Why We Call It History

**---his·to·ry**

_a continuous, systematic narrative of past events as relating to a particular people---_

There was no such thing as history before he happened.

Before the Avatar, history didn't even exist.

Of course, that didn't stop history from happening. People were born and died, and there were fights and peace, and the world kept spinning.

But before he came, it didn't need a name. All of this happened, and no one thought anything of it, because they didn't know what 'all of this' was called. People make stories and recount legends, assumptions are made based on facts found, but no one knows the complete truth about the times before the first Avatar, because no one bothered to remember.

It happened shortly after the first war. The Spirits must have realized what the people of the planet were (and still are) capable of and decided it was time to do something about it. The humans (water, soil, air, and the newly born fire) needed to be shown who's boss. For this to happen there was just one catch.

One of the Spirits had to become human.

There wasn't a way to do this from the Spirit World. One of them had to take things into their own hands and become a mortal, and feel the way the humans felt, and understand their ways of life, and tell the other Spirits what it was like, so they'd get a better understanding on how to stop the wars.

Now, the Council of Spirits could easily get together and assign someone to become the mortal, but they decided against it. This mortal needed to be someone who _wanted_ the job, who wanted to experience pain and love and all these fickle 'emotions' the humans enjoyed so much. Otherwise, it wouldn't be done correctly. This job was to be handled with the up most care, and if someone who didn't want to be there was forced to do it, well, they wouldn't try their best.

No, the Spirits needed someone who would embrace the change; who wanted this, and would live the way they intended.

His name was Hoyt.

Well, that was his human name. His real, spirit name was Avatar.

His whole existence was circled around the humans. He watched them, and cared for them, and wished wished _wished_ he was one of them.

I've hear that it was La; La was the one who first suggested Avatar become a human. Everyone slowly agreed, for Avatar cared so much for the mortals, he would be sure to do a good job.

And at the meeting where they made the final decision, perhaps the most important meeting in _history_, The Discussion took place.

"_So,"_ La began, voice like a swirling song, _"You shall become a human of the Water Tribes."_

While Tui nodded along, there was a disruption with the other Spirits. Agni boomed out his complaints, claiming that Avatar should be born into the new Fire Nation, while the other elements also voiced opinions.

Of course, no one is positive how, but eventually the conclusion was drawn to make him born of all of these, of all four elements and Nations, so he could understand every view point.

Avatar did not object.

And so he was born into the Fire peoples, and the Air peoples, and the Earth peoples, and the Water peoples.

And he lived, and he grew. It's not for sure whether or not Hoyt had a real mother, and a real family, or even real friends. It is just known that he was born, and he walked the Earth, and learned many things.

One of these many things was the elements. Hoyt decided he wanted to learn how to bend each element, to better understand each race.

Much happened to Hoyt, but that is story for another day. That is his story, and one I am unable to tell. My story, however, is one about the World, this whole place and how it came to be remembered.

You see, without Hoyt the World would be void of many things. If it wasn't for him, then the Spirits wouldn't keep Hoyt's Spirit (still referred to as Avatar, even after he got his human name) in the people, and they wouldn't re-birth him every cycle.

Every new body in which this Spirit lives is two people. There is, of course, themselves living in them, but there is also the Spirit of Avatar living in their body as well. Through the stories of the different times, this will never change. They call this person, The Avatar.

Each person, Avatar or not, has a story. It is up to you to make it a comedy, or a tragedy, or decide if you even want to tell it at all.

But as for Hoyt, well, the story of the World (_my_ story) just happens to tie into his a great deal.

For without The first Avatar, without _his story_, there would be no history at all.

**--- av·a·tar**

_the descent of a deity to the earth in an incarnate form or some manifest shape; the incarnation of a god ---_


End file.
